Teen show sets fashion trends

NEW YORK — As the second season of "Gossip Girl" begins, the real-life gossip is flying fast, not about the plot, but about the clothes.

"I bet Serena will wear a lot of chunky jewelry because she always wears those simple tees with a pair of skinny jeans and boots," Jessica Rowe, 19, of Rosedale, N.Y., predicts of the show's take on this fall's trends.

While many television shows such as "Sex and the City" have captured the hearts of fashion's in crowd in the past, none have done as with the impact on the teen set and its emerging buying influence as "Gossip Girl" has, says Gloria Baume, the fashion director of Teen Vogue.

The teen soap, which started its second season Monday, has become known more for its fashion than its scripted drama, and the styles worn by its hot young stars are influencing women of all ages.

"Truthfully, that generation, the 14- to 18-year-olds, have kind of taken over," Baume says. "It's all about them. The consumer trends, the music, anywhere from the general trends on the street, really gets translated into what women are wearing."

So how can a show for and about teenagers affect what a 30-year-old woman might wear? For a fan such as Rowe, checking out the clothes online after each show is a must, even though she's no longer in high school; she's an International Studies major at Pepperdine University.

She loves the style of Blair Waldorf, played by Leighton Meester, but admits she's more of a Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) when it comes to her own wardrobe.

"Something about it has really captured people's imaginations," says Keith Carollo, the buyer for online retailer fredflare.com.

"I'm pretty confident that designers are looking at it. It's like, they're young, beautiful and rich. That's totally what those designers are designing for."

Baume agrees that the show's influence has broadened past its designated audience, affecting not just stylish women but designers such as Alex Wang and Chanel, where Karl Lagerfeld's recent resort runway show featured "a lot of denim, high-waisted denim, and it had the influence of this super chic young girl, Upper East Side, that is very elite and privileged."

The show's costume designer, Eric Daman, also sees his work influencing retail.

"I just saw a Zara window that is totally imitating Chuck Bass' looks from upcoming episodes that have been previewed on the Web," Daman says via e-mail, busy after styling the "Gossip Girl"-inspired windows recently unveiled at Henri Bendel.

For the second season, Daman says he was inspired by art and film.

"Blair is moving in a very art-deco feel, mirroring the paintings of Tamara de Lempicka," Daman says, referring to the Polish painter. "And Serena feels like a Klimt to me; Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) as a young Sean Connery circa Hitchcock's 'Marni.' "

Looks from the first season that have popped off television screens and into malls have been headbands, which one retail buyer says is related to another trend from the show: the prim dressage that's always in style in that tony Manhattan neighborhood.

"It's unbelievable to me how the headband has made a resurgence," marvels Garth Mader, director of buying at Endless.com, who admits the e-commerce site hadn't anticipated the trend would blow up. Many characters, including queen bee Blair Waldorf, wore the accessory in nearly every episode. "It goes with the whole preppy thing, especially I think you see that on Blair."

To better prepare for looks that might show up after the show's premiere, Mader says he and other buyers look at blogs and other Web sites that track celebrities and get tips about what stylists have picked up from vendors.

One tip he's received: high-heeled penny loafers, which he says are part of a "chic, preppy look" that's being driven by the show.

Other anticipated trends include structured bags, fringe and "the deep purple plum color family is really, really strong for fall."

For "Gossip Girl," Baume is predicting punk elements from recent runways by Marc by Marc Jacobs and Balmain for Serena, and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), a younger student from Brooklyn desperate to fit in with Blair's crowd.

"Jenny is the downtown girl, but she doesn't have the money to wear the expensive clothes, so she remakes them in her own cool way," Baume says.

Carollo expects some of the show's signatures, a preppy look and mixed patterns, on a different scale: "Like you're going to see a giant hair bow on Blair, or you're going to see a micro-something."

On Serena, Carollo pictures plaid and "skinny, skinny jeans, skinny jacket, a cool T-shirt underneath" for Serena, or perhaps something from upcoming British designer House of Holland.

Much like the show itself, Baume expects styles that are "a little exaggerated, a little over the top, a little amusing."